Background checks a certainty for senior roles

Just shy of half of firms carry out pre employment checks on potential recruits eyeing up senior management roles, reports HR News Recruitment Bureau.

That's according to a survey by XpertHR, who revealed that of those who carried out background checks for senior management positions, 38 per cent obtained Criminal Record Bureau disclosures and 17 per cent "paid for candidate-checking agencies to confirm details on applications".

In addition, a massive 92 per cent of companies gathered work-related references and around seven in 10 (72 per cent) collected personal references from referees.

Background checking is essential in the modern workplace, especially for high profile senior management roles which demand a figurative clean slate by those who apply.

Furthermore, the survey found that senior management vacancies took 10.5 weeks and cost £9,921 to fill.
Rachel Suff, XpertHR author of the report, commented on the figures to Personnel Today: "The main reason why senior management recruitment costs more than filling other kinds of vacancies is that many employers pay fees to external specialist agencies.

"The most costly type of agency is one that employers in our survey make the heaviest use of - search and selection agencies, or headhunters as they are more commonly known," she added.